


Not a Nightmare

by Trexi



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Episode: s01e07 Gates of Avalon, Gen, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 15:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20950307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trexi/pseuds/Trexi
Summary: Morgana tells Uther the truth about her nightmares.





	Not a Nightmare

“Try. Whatever it is, you can tell me,” Uther says like he hasn’t thrown nobles to the pyre for acing even slightly sympathetic to magic.

And that’s what these nightmares are, aren’t they? Dreaming the future is no ordinary skill, so it must be that. Magic. Uther would kill me for it. He’d stab me through right here without a moment’s hesitation, even if I’m no sorceress, even if I have no control over the nightmares. But Uther’s always been partial to me. I’ve argued with him about executing innocents again and again, and the most he’s ever done was throw me in the dungeons for the night over it. If anyone else, except maybe Arthur, did the same, they’d be banished or executed by morning’s light.

“I… I had a nightmare,” I admit in a whisper. “In it, Sophia… She killed Arthur, drowned him, and he, he didn’t fight back. He just let her.”

Uther’s expression softens. “I’m sure it was just a bad dream, Morgana. Arthur will snap out of this by the end of the week. Sophia and her father will move on, and we’ll never see them again.”

“No!” I snap, sick of being ignored.

“No?” Uther repeats, his tone losing its patience.

If nobody listens, then Arthur’s going to die. I’m not letting that idiot walk to his death just because I’m a little scared about how Uther will take this. If he decides I should burn for something I can’t control, well, at least that’ll mean he believes me. He’ll have to take the threat of Sophia seriously. I glance around for eavesdroppers and hope Uther’s soft spot for me is enough to at least believe I’m not hysterical.

“I had the nightmare before Sophia and Aulfric arrived. I’ve never even met Sophia before, so how could I have dreamed her face before–”

Uther grabs my arm. “Stop this nonsense now, Morgana. Arthur will move on soon enough. There’s no need to imply that you could be some _seer_,” he spits the last word like he does ‘magic’, but the word clicks in my mind, and I know that it’s what I am.

Seer.

“They’re not nightmares then?” I find myself asking, desperate for the confirmation that I’m not out of my mind. 

Something in Uther’s hard glare cracks, just a little. He drops my arm like he’s repulsed by it. “No. But if I hear word that you tell anybody else about this, even Gaius, Arthur, or your maidservant, then I will not hesitate to throw you and them in the deepest parts of the dungeons, never to see the light of day again.”

“You won’t kill me then? Like so many others with–”

“You will follow me to my chambers, tell me every detail of this nightmare, and you will not speak of any of it again,” Uther interrupts. “Am I clear, Morgana?”

I clench my jaw and curtsey. “Of course, sire.”

I won’t argue his double standards today, not with Arthur’s life on the line. But one day, one day I’ll get Uther to change his mind on killing innocents for something they have no control over. If that means being thrown into the dungeons for weeks on end, then it’s worth getting justice.

**Author's Note:**

> Technically, not a magic-reveal, if only because Morgana isn't yet sure if she actually has magic.


End file.
